Pro tools question.
 

Any pro tools experts out there

Prior to my Calkwalk usage I had started a demo on pro tools (in a studio)
I had picked up the pro tools LE with mbox micro so I can listen at home.

There are several midi tracks in some of the pro tools files that I would like to retrieve but window 8, which I currently use, is not compatible with the pro tools LE/mbox version I have in my avid account.

Any suggestions on how to access these midi files. Can’t seem to find them in the file folders. I do see the audio

Thanks

Bad news. MIDI data is stored in the session (.ptx) file unless you export it.

What's the problem with your system? Is it too old or too new? Avid does have a free trial available online. It may be able to run on your system and give you an opportunity to export MIDI data.

The catch is you need an iLock to run PTfree.
If you have an Avid account you could do a one month subscription upgrade but you will still need an iLock...

Yep, that’s what the web site stated when I went to down load the latest demo.
I still have the mbox micro usb converter but not a physical Ilock

I am going to try and down load the LE version and run it today but according to the web site it was for Windows XP and will not run on Windows 8.1

LE is quite old. They’ve moved to 3 tiers:
Pro Tools | First (free but not going to work for you because you can’t open other session files)
Pro Tools
Pro Tools HD

They do require licensing via iLok, but with the latest version you do not need a physical iLok. They now support iLok Cloud. So you could get a free iLok account and use Pro Tools 12 (which is now renamed PT 2018.something. The something is the month number of the latest update).

Thanks for the info. I will look into that idea. Will it run/open with any interface or does it need to be proprietary.

Couple thoughts first you might list your actual system specs i.e. what exact PT LE version "number" do you have ?

Have you tried running the session on your current computer?
Because with Avid, just because something is not listed in the "compatible" systems list, does not always mean it will not work. Sometimes it does and sometimes it does not.

In Pro Tools, the audio is stored in separate .wav or .aiff files and the edits, plugin inserts (and settings), fades and MIDI data are stored in the "session file". Here's a few ideas:

1) Getting the session file to open to get access to the MIDI data. This can be done on any PC of Mac running almost any version of Pro Tools equal or greater than the version the session file was created in, i.e., .pts for PT versions 5 and 6, .ptf for PT versions 7 through 9 and .ptx for PT versions 10 and above.

2) Once there you can export the MIDI data using the Export => MIDI menu command. You'll have to research further as to the format of that export and whether you can import the MIDI data into Calkwalk.

3) PT session files are not very large. You can simply e-mail them to someone who has a running PT setup and have them open the session files, export the MIDI data, name the export files appropriately and e-mail the export files back to you.

For those who haven't heard:
They recently renamed ProTools HD. It's now ProTools Ultimate.

Yeah. That was weird. One day I noticed I had Pro Tools | Ultimate & Sibelius | Ultimate instead of my previous versions. I’m bracing for the inevitable “we want more money because we renamed them” moment.

Yep, tried running PT LE 8.0 on my windows 8.1 but it would not run.

I do have a 2 old lap tops in storage. One with window XP and one with vista. They would not be able to work well with pro tools (not enough ram) but as long as I can open the file I can retrieve the midi data. Going to get them out of storage later today and see if I can run pro tools.

On windows 8 the mbox micro usb drivers would not load. It should be a plug and play item, from what i remember.

If you don’t have luck PM me & I should be able to open your session file & export the midi for you.

Obviously it’s helpful if you can get a working install of PT.

duplemeter: Thanks. I might take you up on the offer but I would first like to see if I can figure out the next issue

I did have success......to a point
I was able to install and run Pro tools LE on an old vista lap top.

However the mbox micro usb only operates at a sample rate of 44 k (or 38K) and the files are 96 k.

So the next question, assuming one cannot change the sample rate of a file prior to opening the file (correct ?), how can i import the midi data from the existing file into a new pro-tools session that is set a 44 K

Or perhaps I can delate all the audio in the folder so all that remains is the session midi data. Then pro tools will open the file with a message that audio data is missing.

I answered your PM, but thought I'd post here too...in case anyone has additional insight.

I would create a new session file then import the old session. It should convert everything to the new sample rate.

You could try to open the session file after disassociating the audio. I'd just copy the session file to a new location & try opening the copy. The unknown for me here is that I've never tried to open a session that was at a sample rate my current PT didn't support, so I don't know what happens. Even if you copy the session to a new location and try opening so it "lost" the audio, I don't know what happens. The session has the bit depth & sample rate info stored in it. Would it just downsample & open. Not sure.

i would try the import option first. That should do the trick. The only thing I would be concerned with, is if PT LE somehow doesn't support importing another session. That's the kind of thing Avid would do ;)